The Arthur B. Guise Medal was created to ensure that the engineering and scientific contributions of Arthur B. Guise will not only be remembered but will live on as continuing inspiration and encouragement to those who follow his footsteps in pursuit of scientific achievement.

The medal, authorized in 1982, is bestowed upon an individual for eminent achievement in the advancement of the science and technology of fire protection engineering. Such achievement may be in the areas of research, development, design, innovation, management, education or literature. Accompanying the bronze medal is a $2,000 honorarium.

Arthur B. Guise, P.E., engineer and scientist, was singularly responsible for the development of dry chemicals as fire extinguishing agents used in portable extinguishers and fixed extinguishing systems. During his distinguished fire protection engineering career, spanning five and a half decades, he was responsible for an array of advancements in the technology and practice of fire protection engineering.

Among his contributions:

helped establish the Ansul Fire School

conceived the free-radical theory of fire extinguishing

developed the science and practice of fire extinguishment for high challenge fire hazards such as natural gas, LNG, rubber tires and combustible metals

described the methods for evaluating basic extinguishing effectiveness of dry chemicals, halons, carbon dioxide and other agents

developed foam compatible dry chemicals

developed the principles of flow and distribution of fluidized powder

reduced "light water" (perfluorocarbon surfactants) to practice

developed "twin agent" extinguishing systems and technology

Guise graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1927 with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering. He subsequently worked in the petroleum industry for the Atlantic refining Company, Cities Service Refining, and the Okmulgee Gas and Oil Company (now Phillips); for Rockwood Sprinkler, U.S. Rubber and from 1935 until 1941 for Factory Mutual Laboratories. In 1942 he joined DuGas engineering, then a subsidiary of Ansul. He spent the next 24 years with Ansul, retiring in 1966. After retiring he engaged in private consulting. During his lifetime he was issued 12 patents.

When Guise died in 1982, there was little doubt that his technical and scientific contributions to fire protection had, in the final analysis, resulted in a significant reduction in the loss of life and property due to fire. He left the world a better and safer place than he found it.

2015 Recipients

Professor Takeyoshi Tanaka

After graduating from Kyoto University, Prof. Tanaka has worked for Building Research Institute for 24 years as a fire scientist and Kyoto University for 14 years as a professor in disaster prevention area. He has a rich history of fire science and engineering research and development. He was the originating developer of the two-zone fire model, BRI, and the leader of the working group which advanced changes in the version BRI2. He has advanced analytical methods for smoke movement modeling for building fire, pioneered post-earthquake urban fire spread modeling and risk-based fire safety design method of buildings. He was instrumental in the development of the framework for, and discipline of, fire protection engineering in Japan. He has chaired and/or participated in numerous national and international committees dedicated to fire science, engineering and regulation. He has been recognized for his contributions to fire science and engineering through awards as the IAFSS Emmons Award for distinguished lifetime achievement in Fire Safety Science and the International FORUM of Fire Research Directors’ Sjolin Award for outstanding contribution to the science of fire safety and advances to the state of the art in fire safety engineering practice of extraordinary significance.